Jeffrey L. Farrow, Co-Chair of President Clinton’s Interagency Group on Puerto Rico, Testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee

Posted March 26, 2010

Jeffrey L. Farrow, Co-Chair of President Clinton’s Interagency Group on Puerto Rico, Testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, October 4, 2000, p. 15-16. Many aspects of this [Enhanced Commonwealth] proposal would require actions by the United States to be implemented, so Puerto Ricans should know the United States’ views on it before they consider it.

Puerto Rico’s parties should not be expected to draft a proposal that is acceptable as drafted, but it is our responsibility to advise them of the problems, as this hearing is doing, so they can develop a realistic proposal.

It is important to the United Sates as well as to Puerto Rico. The island’s lack of votes raises questions of democratic rights. The uncertainty regarding its ultimate status raises questions of how economic and social politics should apply.

If Puerto Rico is to be a nation . . . we should gear programs to eventual nationhood. If it is to be a permanent member of the United States family, we should work toward equal treatment. Puerto Rico’s status to date is as much about what the Federal Government would implement as it is about which option would be best.